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responsible ministers. If men of sufficient calibre could be found to fill such posts - and it might not be easy to persuade the right men or women to forsake more lucrative occupations - it would greatly improve the Government's standing with the people and I think also with the Chinese members of the civil service (though I think it would make for difficulty with some of the expatriate civil service). It would also end the present situation in which criticism of the Government generally go unanswered except by officials.
9.
You will note that it is the practical fact of some overt power and responsibility being in the hands of local personalities to which I believe people in Hong Kong would attach significance, rather than to whether they had originally been selected by appointment or by election. It is noticeable in the Urban Council that those members who are elected have no special standing with the Chinese press or public because of their election. Their standing, like that of appointed members, depends rather on personality, performance and the degree of concern for public welfare with which they are credited. In fact the public standing of most appointed members is higher than that of elected ones though there are one or two notable exceptions.
10.
say
Supposing a course along the lines envisaged in para.7 were adopted we could expect a situation by the early '80s in which the civil service was predominantly but not completely Chinese at all levels, and in which certain sectors of the administration at least Home Affairs, Social Services, Economic Services and Environment (corresponding to the new 'secretary' branches in the Secretariat) were presided over by appointed Ministers. The Ministers would be members .ex-officio of both the Executive and Legislative Councils.
The shift of power to local hands would have been significant, and insofar as the present administration is tainted as 'alien' or 'out of touch' the taint would have been removed. The Unofficial Ministers should also have contributed to a more responsive government machine and perhaps a faster-moving one. With careful handling neither business confidence nor CPG suspicion of a move towards independence would be involved.
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